June 26, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - Former UCF safety Sha'reff Rashad (Jacksonville, Fla.) was named on Friday as a recipient of one of Conference USA's 12 Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. The conference annually presents the $4,000 Postgraduate Scholarship awards to graduates as selected by the C-USA Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the Board of Directors. This is the first year the award has been named for Dr. Castañeda, who served Rice University for 46 years as an educator, coach and Faculty Athletics Representative before he passed away in November.
Rashad has received numerous academic accolades in his time at UCF. He was a semifinalist for both the National Football Foundation's Draddy Trophy and the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in 2008. Rashad received his undergraduate degree in criminal justice, with a minor in psychology, last past spring with a 3.428 grade point average. He is presently working towards a master's degree in criminal justice. The UCF Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007, Rashad has twice been named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team. He has twice been named to the Conference USA Football All-Academic Team and is a two-time first-team honoree on the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholars Team. He is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society. Rashad is a four-time member of the UCF Dean's List (3.4-or-better GPA) and an eight-time UCF Athletics Director's Honor Roll honoree (3.0-or-better GPA). He also has a President's Honor Roll Certificate for having a 4.0 semester. Rashad was named to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's Hampshire Honor Society in 2008 and 2009. He was a 2007 Order of Pegasus Finalist which is the highest honor a UCF student can receive. He was awarded the UCF Scholar Athlete Inspiration Award in 2007 and leads the UCF football bible study program.
He also was a first-team All-Conference USA pick on the field as a senior after he tied for second on UCF with 72 tackles and tied for second in C-USA with five interceptions. His 14 career interceptions rank second in UCF lore and fifth in C-USA annals. Rashad ranked 15th nationally in 2008 in passes defended. He was also named All-Conference USA in 2007 as he helped lead the Knights to their first ever league championship and a berth in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. He was an honorable mention All-C-USA pick in 2006 and played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman in 2005 as the Knights won C-USA's East Division and played in their first-ever bowl game, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
Rashad signed as a free agent with the New York Giants in April and is currently preparing for his first NFL training camp with the franchise.
Fans hoping to catch the Knights in action for one of seven home games this upcoming fall can buy season tickets now either online at UCFAthletics.com or by calling (407) 823-1000.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.